Creating a Villain

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Last Wednesday I attended a writing workshop and we had to structure a villain and I will admit I will never admit that I have never been good writing a villain, I never really thought about it in my writing only because I think of the super villains like Darth Vader or even Moriarty (from Sherlock).

But the "leader" of the workshop tells us villains for the story are people who see the world similar to the protagonist but slightly different. He also says for villains to be good they need to be

• Sympathetic
• Have motivations
• Needs and Desires
• Changes over time 

Then we had to construct a villain with one characteristic we chose at random mine was: "Has a crippled sibling".

I am currently reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult and I just read The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, both of these stories about WWII and both of them have made an impact on my mind. Both these stories have been really intriguing and they have slipped into my head. This kind of slipped into my thinking when I was thinking of a villain.

So here is my villain (at least a bit of his back story):

"Come on Laura," Rudy shook his young sister awake. "Come on time to get up."

In truth Rudy had already been up for hours, checking his traps for any prizes, getting milk and collecting eggs. All resources were drying up it was as if the animals know there was a war going on. He tried to quietly make breakfast as not to disturb father, who had been at work all night. Then helped Laura braid her hair into two pigtails. He had been teased mercilessly when the kids at school know he did his sisters hair, but he had to. Laura could a lot on her own but she couldn't braid her hair with only one arm.

After breakfast they made their long trek to school. Rudy hated school, not just because he was fifteen years old and that what fifteen year old boys did, no he hated school because every day he had to sit next to Alexander, as they had to sit in alphabetical order. Alexander Janson then Rudy Jenkins.

Alexander was tall with muscles that had only appeared recently, but since then Greta Adler only had eyes for him. Everything was perfect for Alexander. His father owned the factory in town that supported most of the town's employment. Most but not Rudy's father who had been let go six months ago and now Rudy's father had to work odd jobs making inconsistent wages, and never enough to pay for rent, food, and doctor's bills.

Rudy knew deep down it wasn't Alexander's fault, but he felt it was. Everyone knew Rudy should have won the race, the only thing Rudy had going for him was his speed, as he had to run away from boys who started fights with him. That day the whole school including Greta Adler, had been out to watch the race. Rudy had a good lead but somehow Alexander caught up and tripped him. The next day Rudy's father announced the factory had to let him go. It could have all be a coincidence but Rudy had a hard time believing in coincidence. 

Another article I found on Villains